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Falun Gong Sues Cisco
schwit1 submitted a story from CNet. From the article: "Cisco Systems designed a surveillance system to help the Chinese government track and ultimately suppress members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, according to a lawsuit the group filed against the network equipment maker. The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in Federal District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, alleges Cisco supplied and helped maintain a surveillance system known as the 'Golden Shield' that allowed the Chinese government to track and censor the group's Internet activities. As a result of Cisco's technology, Falun Gong members suffered false imprisonment, torture, and wrongful death, according the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of the religious group by the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Law Foundation."
It's once again religions that is causing problems. Not only this, but since religions were invented. Religion was basically a way to control people without valid reasoning. It sounds a lot better to go to war "for the god" than if the king admitted he just wants more power, gold and lands. When Falun Gong started mass gathering on the streets of China, of course the Chinese government saw a problem with that. It's an absolutely HUGE nation with more than 1,3 billion people and huge land area. Combined with poverty a religious movement taking a stand will cause huge problems. Most of the Chinese also understand this.
What I do, however, see interesting that Falun Gong takes aspects of Buddhism. As I see it Buddhism is the one religion that makes most sense and is actually good for people in general. It doesn't tell people that they should spread Buddhism via forced violence like Christianity and Islam does. It tries to tell people to accept people the way they are. This is extremely visible in South East Asian countries where it's not uncommon to see men who have always felt like they should be women actually be so. Buddhism accepts that instead of just man and a woman there is four genders - man, woman, ladyboy and hermafrodites. Transsexuals are still far from accepted in western countries where the religion has generally been Christianity. Christianity as a religion is really closed minded and promotes forcing people to think the same way you do. Buddhism on the other hand is based on the belief that you should be kind to others and let them be the way they are if it doesn't hurt other people. By being like this you get karma and in future you might be in better position.